Signaling beamforming relationships between control and data channels

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for signaling information regarding beams used for data and control transmissions to a receiving entity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS & PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/713,074, filed Sep. 22, 2017 which claims benefit of and priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/420,036, filed Nov. 10,2016, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentireties for all applicable purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, andmore particularly, signaling information regarding beams used for dataand control transmissions.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth,transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies includeLong Term Evolution (LTE) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA)systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system mayinclude a number of base stations, each simultaneously supportingcommunication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known asuser equipment (UEs). In LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more basestations may define an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a nextgeneration or 5G network), a wireless multiple access communicationsystem may include a number of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units(EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs),transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with anumber of central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access nodecontrollers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or more distributed units,in communication with a central unit, may define an access node (e.g., anew radio base station (NR BS), a new radio node-B (NR NB), a networknode, 5G NB, gNB, etc.). A base station or DU may communicate with a setof UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base stationor to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to abase station or distributed unit).

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. An example of an emergingtelecommunication standard is new radio (NR), for example, 5G radioaccess. It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internetaccess by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improvingservices, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with otheropen standards using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink(DL) and on the uplink (UL) as well as support beamforming,multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrieraggregation.

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues toincrease, there exists a need for further improvements in NR technology.Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to othermulti-access technologies and the telecommunication standards thatemploy these technologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunication that may be performed by a transmitting entity. The methodgenerally includes signaling, to a receiving entity, informationregarding a relationship between beams used for data and controltransmissions to the receiving entity and sending the data and controltransmissions using the beams.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunication that may be performed by a receiving entity. The methodgenerally includes receiving signaling, from a transmitting entity,information regarding a relationship between beams used for data andcontrol transmissions to the receiving entity and processing the dataand control transmissions, based on the information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication generally including at least one processor and atransmitter. The processor is generally configured to obtain informationregarding a relationship between beams used for data and controltransmissions to a receiving entity. The transmitter is generallyconfigured to signal the information to the receiving entity and to sendthe data and control transmissions using the beams.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication generally including a receiver and at least oneprocessor The receiver is generally configured to receive, from atransmitting entity, information regarding a relationship between beamsused for data and control transmissions to the apparatus. The processoris generally configured to process the data and control transmissions,based on the signaled information.

Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer readablemediums, and processing systems, as substantially described herein withreference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted,however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typicalaspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equallyeffective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exampletelecommunications system, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example logical architectureof a distributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example physical architecture of adistributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of anexample BS and user equipment (UE), in accordance with certain aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing examples for implementing a communicationprotocol stack, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a DL-centric subframe, in accordancewith certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an UL-centric subframe, in accordancewith certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of active beams, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 example operations performed by a transmitting entity, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates example operations performed by a receiving entity,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspectmay be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processingsystems, and computer readable mediums for new radio (NR) (new radioaccess technology or 5G technology).

NR may support various wireless communication services, such as Enhancedmobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. 80 MHz beyond),millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g. 60 GHz),massive MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques,and/or mission critical targeting ultra reliable low latencycommunications (URLLC). These services may include latency andreliability requirements. These services may also have differenttransmission time intervals (TTI), wherein a TTI may refer to a subframeor portion of a subframe (e.g., a time slot) to meet respective qualityof service (QoS) requirements. In addition, these services may co-existin the same subframe.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of thescope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit,substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. Forinstance, the methods described may be performed in an order differentfrom that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may becombined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intendedto cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. Itshould be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed hereinmay be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word “exemplary”is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA andother networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 coversIS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement aradio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5GRA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA andE-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). NRis an emerging wireless communications technology under development inconjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that useE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networksand radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects may be describedherein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wirelesstechnologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in othergeneration-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, includingNR technologies.

Example Wireless Communications System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 in which aspects ofthe present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wirelessnetwork may be a new radio (NR) or 5G network. NR wireless communicationsystems may employ beams, where a BS and UE communicate via activebeams. As described herein, a BS may monitor active beams usingmeasurements of reference signals (e.g., MRS, CSI-RS, synch) transmittedvia reference beams.

UEs 120 may be configured to perform the operations 1000 and methodsdescribed herein for detecting a mobility events based, at least inpart, on mobility parameters associated with a beam set. BS 110 maycomprise a transmission reception point (TRP), Node B (NB), 5G NB,access point (AP), new radio (NR) BS, etc.). BS 110 may be configured toperform the operations 900 and methods described herein for configuringbeam sets and mobility parameters associated with each of the beam sets.The BS may receive an indication of a detected mobility event based onthe mobility parameters and may make a decision regarding mobilitymanagement of the UE based on the event trigger.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless network 100 may include a numberof BSs 110 and other network entities. A BS may be a station thatcommunicates with UEs. Each BS 110 may provide communication coveragefor a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer toa coverage area of a Node B and/or a Node B subsystem serving thiscoverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NRsystems, the term “cell” and gNB, Node B, 5G NB, AP, NR BS, NR BS, orTRP may be interchangeable. In some examples, a cell may not necessarilybe stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according tothe location of a mobile base station. In some examples, the basestations may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or moreother base stations or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network100 through various types of backhaul interfaces such as a directphysical connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitabletransport network.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radioaccess technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. ARAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface,etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequencychannel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a givengeographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networksof different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, afemto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g.,UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home,etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS fora pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell maybe referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG.1, the BSs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro BSs for the macro cells102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. The BS 110 x may be a pico BS fora pico cell 102 x. The BSs 110 y and 110 z may be femto BS for the femtocells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. A BS may support one or multiple(e.g., three) cells.

The wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relaystation is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or otherinformation from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and sends atransmission of the data and/or other information to a downstreamstation (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be a UE thatrelays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, arelay station 110 r may communicate with the BS 110 a and a UE 120 r inorder to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE 120 r.A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay, etc.

The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includesBSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico BS, femto BS, relays, etc.These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels,different coverage areas, and different impact on interference in thewireless network 100. For example, macro BS may have a high transmitpower level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico BS, femto BS, and relays mayhave a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt).

The wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronousoperation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frametiming, and transmissions from different BSs may be approximatelyaligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have differentframe timing, and transmissions from different BSs may not be aligned intime. The techniques described herein may be used for both synchronousand asynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and providecoordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 maycommunicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 may alsocommunicate with one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via wirelessor wireline backhaul.

The UEs 120 (e.g., 120 x, 120 y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout thewireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE mayalso be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal,a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), acellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, alaptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station,a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, anultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometricsensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart clothing,smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, asmart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, avideo device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor,a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a globalpositioning system device, or any other suitable device that isconfigured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs maybe considered evolved or machine-type communication (MTC) devices orevolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example,robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, locationtags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., remotedevice), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example,connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such asInternet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communicationlink. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated toserve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A dashed line with doublearrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrierfrequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDMpartition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers,which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent inthe frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. Thespacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total numberof subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. Forexample, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimumresource allocation (called a ‘resource block’) may be 12 subcarriers(or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128,256, 512, 1024 or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also bepartitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz(i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 subbandsfor system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

While aspects of the examples described herein may be associated withLTE technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicablewith other wireless communications systems, such as NR.

NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and includesupport for half-duplex operation using TDD. A single component carrierbandwidth of 100 MHz may be supported. NR resource blocks may span 12sub-carriers with a subcarrier bandwidth of 75 kHz over a 0.1 msduration. Each radio frame may consist of 50 subframes with a length of10 ms. Consequently, each subframe may have a length of 0.2 ms. Eachsubframe may indicate a link direction (i.e., DL or UL) for datatransmission and the link direction for each subframe may be dynamicallyswitched. Each subframe may include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL controldata. UL and DL subframes for NR may be as described in more detailbelow with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7. Beamforming may be supported andbeam direction may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions withprecoding may also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL maysupport up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions upto 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmissions withup to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cellsmay be supported with up to 8 serving cells. Alternatively, NR maysupport a different air interface, other than an OFDM-based. NR networksmay include entities such CUs and/or DUs.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, whereina scheduling entity (e.g., abase station) allocates resources forcommunication among some or all devices and equipment within its servicearea or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below,the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning,reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinateentities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entitiesutilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations arenot the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity. That is,in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, schedulingresources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more otherUEs). In this example, the UE is functioning as a scheduling entity, andother UEs utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wirelesscommunication. A UE may function as a scheduling entity in apeer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh networkexample, UEs may optionally communicate directly with one another inaddition to communicating with the scheduling entity.

Thus, in a wireless communication network with a scheduled access totime-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2Pconfiguration, and a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one ormore subordinate entities may communicate utilizing the scheduledresources.

As noted above, a RAN may include a CU and DUs. A NR BS (e.g., gNB, 5GNode B, Node B, transmission reception point (TRP), access point (AP))may correspond to one or multiple BSs. NR cells can be configured asaccess cell (ACells) or data only cells (DCells). For example, the RAN(e.g., a central unit or distributed unit) can configure the cells.DCells may be cells used for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity,but not used for initial access, cell selection/reselection, orhandover. In some cases DCells may not transmit synchronizationsignals—in some case cases DCells may transmit SS. NR BSs may transmitdownlink signals to UEs indicating the cell type. Based on the cell typeindication, the UE may communicate with the NR BS. For example, the UEmay determine NR BSs to consider for cell selection, access, handover,and/or measurement based on the indicated cell type.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example logical architecture of a distributedradio access network (RAN) 200, which may be implemented in the wirelesscommunication system illustrated in FIG. 1. A 5G access node 206 mayinclude an access node controller (ANC) 202. The ANC may be a centralunit (CU) of the distributed RAN 200. The backhaul interface to the nextgeneration core network (NG-CN) 204 may terminate at the ANC. Thebackhaul interface to neighboring next generation access nodes (NG-ANs)may terminate at the ANC. The ANC may include one or more TRPs 208(which may also be referred to as BSs, NR BSs, Node Bs, 5G NBs, APs, orsome other term). As described above, a TRP may be used interchangeablywith “cell.”

The TRPs 208 may be a DU. The TRPs may be connected to one ANC (ANC 202)or more than one ANC (not illustrated). For example, for RAN sharing,radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific AND deployments, the TRPmay be connected to more than one ANC. A TRP may include one or moreantenna ports. The TRPs may be configured to individually (e.g., dynamicselection) or jointly (e.g., joint transmission) serve traffic to a UE.

The local architecture 200 may be used to illustrate fronthauldefinition. The architecture may be defined that support fronthaulingsolutions across different deployment types. For example, thearchitecture may be based on transmit network capabilities (e.g.,bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter).

The architecture may share features and/or components with LTE.According to aspects, the next generation AN (NG-AN) 210 may supportdual connectivity with NR. The NG-AN may share a common fronthaul forLTE and NR.

The architecture may enable cooperation between and among TRPs 208. Forexample, cooperation may be present within a TRP and/or across TRPs viathe ANC 202. According to aspects, no inter-TRP interface may beneeded/present.

According to aspects, a dynamic configuration of split logical functionsmay be present within the architecture 200. As will be described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 5, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer,Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC)layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layersmay be adaptably placed at the DU or CU (e.g., TRP or ANC,respectively). According to certain aspects, a BS may include a centralunit (CU) (e.g., ANC 202) and/or one or more distributed units (e.g.,one or more TRPs 208).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN300, according to aspects of the present disclosure. A centralized corenetwork unit (C-CU) 302 may host core network functions. The C-CU may becentrally deployed. C-CU functionality may be offloaded (e.g., toadvanced wireless services (AWS)), in an effort to handle peak capacity.

A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 304 may host one or more ANC functions.Optionally, the C-RU may host core network functions locally. The C-RUmay have distributed deployment. The C-RU may be closer to the networkedge.

A DU 306 may host one or more TRPs (edge node (EN), an edge unit (EU), aradio head (RH), a smart radio head (SRH), or the like). The DU may belocated at edges of the network with radio frequency (RF) functionality.

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of the BS 110 and UE 120illustrated in FIG. 1, which may be used to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure. The BS may include a TRP. One or more components ofthe BS 110 and UE 120 may be used to practice aspects of the presentdisclosure. For example, antennas 452, Tx/Rx 454, processors 466, 458,464, and/or controller/processor 480 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 434,processors 420, 430, 438, and/or controller/processor 440 of the BS 110may be used to perform the operations described herein and illustratedwith reference to FIGS. 9-10.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a design of a BS 110 and a UE 120, whichmay be one of the BSs and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. For a restrictedassociation scenario, the base station 110 may be the macro BS 110 c inFIG. 1, and the UE 120 may be the UE 120 y. The base station 110 mayalso be a base station of some other type. The base station 110 may beequipped with antennas 434 a through 434 t, and the UE 120 may beequipped with antennas 452 a through 452 r.

At the base station 110, a transmit processor 420 may receive data froma data source 412 and control information from a controller/processor440. The control information may be for the Physical Broadcast Channel(PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), PhysicalHybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel(PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel(PDSCH), etc. The processor 420 may process (e.g., encode and symbolmap) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and controlsymbols, respectively. The processor 420 may also generate referencesymbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal(CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor430 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the datasymbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, ifapplicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators(MODs) 432 a through 432 t. Each modulator 432 may process a respectiveoutput symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output samplestream. Each modulator 432 may further process (e.g., convert to analog,amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain adownlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 432 a through 432 tmay be transmitted via the antennas 434 a through 434 t, respectively.

At the UE 120, the antennas 452 a through 452 r may receive the downlinksignals from the base station 110 and may provide received signals tothe demodulators (DEMODs) 454 a through 454 r, respectively. Eachdemodulator 454 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, anddigitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Eachdemodulator 454 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 may obtainreceived symbols from all the demodulators 454 a through 454 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 458 may process (e.g., demodulate,deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data forthe UE 120 to a data sink 460, and provide decoded control informationto a controller/processor 480.

On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 464 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) froma data source 462 and control information (e.g., for the Physical UplinkControl Channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 480. The transmitprocessor 464 may also generate reference symbols for a referencesignal. The symbols from the transmit processor 464 may be precoded by aTX MIMO processor 466 if applicable, further processed by thedemodulators 454 a through 454 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), andtransmitted to the base station 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signalsfrom the UE 120 may be received by the antennas 434, processed by themodulators 432, detected by a MIMO detector 436 if applicable, andfurther processed by a receive processor 438 to obtain decoded data andcontrol information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 438 mayprovide the decoded data to a data sink 439 and the decoded controlinformation to the controller/processor 440.

The controllers/processors 440 and 480 may direct the operation at thebase station 110 and the UE 120, respectively. The processor 440 and/orother processors and modules at the base station 110 may perform ordirect, e.g., the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in FIG.9, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. Theprocessor 480 and/or other processors and modules at the UE 120 may alsoperform or direct, e.g., the execution of thecorresponding/complementary processes for the techniques describedherein and as illustrated in FIG. 10. The memories 442 and 482 may storedata and program codes for the BS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. Ascheduler 444 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlinkand/or uplink.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram 500 showing examples for implementing acommunications protocol stack, according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. The illustrated communications protocol stacks may beimplemented by devices operating in a in a 5G system. Diagram 500illustrates a communications protocol stack including a Radio ResourceControl (RRC) layer 510, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer515, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 520, a Medium Access Control (MAC)layer 525, and a Physical (PHY) layer 530. In various examples thelayers of a protocol stack may be implemented as separate modules ofsoftware, portions of a processor or ASIC, portions of non-collocateddevices connected by a communications link, or various combinationsthereof. Collocated and non-collocated implementations may be used, forexample, in a protocol stack for a network access device (e.g., ANs,CUs, and/or DUs) or a UE.

A first option 505-a shows a split implementation of a protocol stack,in which implementation of the protocol stack is split between acentralized network access device (e.g., an ANC 202 in FIG. 2) anddistributed network access device (e.g., DU 208 in FIG. 2). In the firstoption 505-a, an RRC layer 510 and a PDCP layer 515 may be implementedby the central unit, and an RLC layer 520, a MAC layer 525, and a PHYlayer 530 may be implemented by the DU. In various examples the CU andthe DU may be collocated or non-collocated. The first option 505-a maybe useful in a macro cell, micro cell, or pico cell deployment.

A second option 505-b shows a unified implementation of a protocolstack, in which the protocol stack is implemented in a single networkaccess device (e.g., access node (AN), new radio base station (NR BS), anew radio Node-B (NR NB), a network node (NN), or the like.). In thesecond option, the RRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer 520,the MAC layer 525, and the PHY layer 530 may each be implemented by theAN. The second option 505-b may be useful in a femto cell deployment.

Regardless of whether a network access device implements part or all ofa protocol stack, a UE may implement an entire protocol stack (e.g., theRRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer 520, the MAC layer 525,and the PHY layer 530).

FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 showing an example of a DL-centric subframe. TheDL-centric subframe may include a control portion 602. The controlportion 602 may exist in the initial or beginning portion of theDL-centric subframe. The control portion 602 may include variousscheduling information and/or control information corresponding tovarious portions of the DL-centric subframe. In some configurations, thecontrol portion 602 may be a physical DL control channel (PDCCH), asindicated in FIG. 6. The DL-centric subframe may also include a DL dataportion 604. The DL data portion 604 may sometimes be referred to as thepayload of the DL-centric subframe. The DL data portion 604 may includethe communication resources utilized to communicate DL data from thescheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS) to the subordinate entity (e.g., UE).In some configurations, the DL data portion 604 may be a physical DLshared channel (PDSCH).

The DL-centric subframe may also include a common UL portion 606. Thecommon UL portion 606 may sometimes be referred to as an UL burst, acommon UL burst, and/or various other suitable terms. The common ULportion 606 may include feedback information corresponding to variousother portions of the DL-centric subframe. For example, the common ULportion 606 may include feedback information corresponding to thecontrol portion 602 and 604. Non-limiting examples of feedbackinformation may include an ACK signal, a NACK signal, a HARQ indicator,and/or various other suitable types of information. The common ULportion 606 may include additional or alternative information, such asinformation pertaining to random access channel (RACH) procedures,scheduling requests (SRs), and various other suitable types ofinformation. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the end of the DL data portion604 may be separated in time from the beginning of the common UL portion606. This time separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, a guardperiod, a guard interval, and/or various other suitable terms. Thisseparation provides time for the switch-over from DL communication(e.g., reception operation by the subordinate entity (e.g., UE)) to ULcommunication (e.g., transmission by the subordinate entity (e.g., UE)).One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the foregoing ismerely one example of a DL-centric subframe and alternative structureshaving similar features may exist without necessarily deviating from theaspects described herein.

FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 showing an example of an UL-centric subframe.The UL-centric subframe may include a control portion 702. The controlportion 702 may exist in the initial or beginning portion of theUL-centric subframe. The control portion 702 in FIG. 7 may be similar tothe control portion described above with reference to FIG. 6. TheUL-centric subframe may also include an UL data portion 704. The UL dataportion 704 may sometimes be referred to as the payload of theUL-centric subframe. The UL portion may refer to the communicationresources utilized to communicate UL data from the subordinate entity(e.g., UE) to the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS). In someconfigurations, the control portion 702 may be a physical DL controlchannel (PDCCH).

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the end of the control portion 702 may beseparated in time from the beginning of the UL data portion 704. Thistime separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, guard period,guard interval, and/or various other suitable terms. This separationprovides time for the switch-over from DL communication (e.g., receptionoperation by the scheduling entity) to UL communication (e.g.,transmission by the scheduling entity). The UL-centric subframe may alsoinclude a common UL portion 706. The common UL portion 706 in FIG. 7 maybe similar to the common UL portion 606 described above with referenceto FIG. 6. The common UL portion 706 may include additional oralternative information pertaining to channel quality indicator (CQI),sounding reference signals (SRSs), and various other suitable types ofinformation. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that theforegoing is merely one example of an UL-centric subframe andalternative structures having similar features may exist withoutnecessarily deviating from the aspects described herein.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) maycommunicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-worldapplications of such sidelink communications may include public safety,proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoTcommunications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitableapplications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signalcommunicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to anothersubordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communicationthrough the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though thescheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or controlpurposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicatedusing a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, whichtypically use an unlicensed spectrum).

A UE may operate in various radio resource configurations, including aconfiguration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated setof resources (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) dedicated state,etc.) or a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using acommon set of resources (e.g., an RRC common state, etc.). Whenoperating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE may select a dedicated setof resources for transmitting a pilot signal to a network. Whenoperating in the RRC common state, the UE may select a common set ofresources for transmitting a pilot signal to the network. In eithercase, a pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one ormore network access devices, such as an AN, or a DU, or portionsthereof. Each receiving network access device may be configured toreceive and measure pilot signals transmitted on the common set ofresources, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted ondedicated sets of resources allocated to the UEs for which the networkaccess device is a member of a monitoring set of network access devicesfor the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or a CUto which receiving network access device(s) transmit the measurements ofthe pilot signals, may use the measurements to identify serving cellsfor the UEs, or to initiate a change of serving cell for one or more ofthe UEs.

mmWave SYSTEMS

As used herein, the term mmWave generally refers to spectrum bands above6 GHz in very high frequencies for example 28 GHz. Such frequencies mayprovide very large bandwidths capable of delivering multi-Gbps datarates, as well as the opportunity for extremely dense spatial reuse toincrease capacity. Traditionally, these higher frequencies were notrobust enough for indoor/outdoor mobile broadband applications due tohigh propagation loss and susceptibility to blockage (e.g., frombuildings, humans, and the like).

Despite these challenges, at the higher frequencies in which mmWaveoperates, the small wavelengths enable the use of a large number ofantenna elements in a relatively small form factor. This characteristicof mmWave can be leveraged to form narrow directional beams that cansend and receive more energy, which may help overcome thepropagation/path loss challenges.

These narrow directional beams can also be utilized for spatial reuse.This is one of the key enablers for utilizing mmWave for mobilebroadband services. In addition, the non-line-of-site (NLOS) paths(e.g., reflections from nearby building) can have very large energies,providing alternative paths when line-of-site (LOS) paths are blocked.Aspects of the present disclosure may take advantage of such directionalbeams, for example, by using sets of beams for beam and cell mobilitymanagement.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of active beams 800, in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. ABS and a UE may communicate using aset of active beams. Active beams may refer to BS and UE beam pairs thatare used to transmit data and control channels. A data beam may be usedto transmit data and a control beam may be used to transmit controlinformation. As illustrated in FIG. 8, data beam BS-A1 may be used totransmit DL data and control beam BS-A2 may be used to transmit DLcontrol information. A control beam, which may serve more than one UE,may be broader than a data beam. A control/data beam UE-A1 may be usedto transmit both control and data. As illustrated, both UL control anddata are transmitted using a same beam; however, the data and controlinformation may be transmitted using different beams. Similarly, dataand control may be transmitted by the BS using different beams or a samebeam.

In wireless communication systems employing beams, such as mmWavesystems, high path loss may present a challenge. Accordingly, techniquesincluding hybrid beamforming (analog and digital), which are not presentin 3G and 4G systems, may be used in such wireless systems. Hybridbeamforming creates narrow beam patterns to users (e.g., UEs), which mayenhance link budget/SNR. As described above, a BS and UE may communicateover active beams. Active beams may be referred to as serving beams.Active beams may include BS and UE beam pairs that carry data andcontrol channels such as PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, synchronizationsignals (SS), channel-state information reference signals (CSI-RS),sounding RS (SRS), phase-tracking RS (PTRS), time tracking RS (TRS).

A BS may monitor beams using beam measurements and feedback from a UE.For example, a BS may monitor active beams using DL reference signals. ABS may transmit a DL RS, such as a measurement reference signal (MRS),channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or asynchronization (synch) signal. A UE may report, to the BS, a referencesignal receive power (RSRP) associated with a received reference signal.In this manner, the BS may monitor active beams.

Sets of active beams may have different functionalities,characteristics, and requirements. Stated otherwise, the functionalitiesof one or more active beams may be different than the functionalitiesother active beams. For example, a first set of active beams may includecontrol beam and a second set of active beams may include datatransmissions. As another example, beams in a first set of active beamsmay be transmitted in a first direction and beams in a second set ofactive beams may be transmitted in a second direction, different thanthe first direction. During multi-link communication, a UE maysimultaneously be connected to a first BS in the first direction and toa second BS in the second direction. Beam shapes for each beam set ofthe active beams may vary. For example, as described above, the shape ofcontrol beams from a BS may be different than a shape of data beams fromthe same base station.

Example Signaling Beamforming Relationships Between Control and DataChannels

In wireless communications, knowledge about various factors may help aidin processing control and data transmissions. For example, in NR,channel estimation for data demodulation (e.g. PDSCH) may be enhanced byestimating various channel parameters, such as delay spread, Doppler,frequency error, timing offset, and the like. If an indication isprovided that control and data transmissions are likely to experiencesimilar channel conditions, reference Signals in the control regionserve as a good candidate to estimate these parameters, which in turn,can be utilized for channel estimation for the data region. If thespatial parameters and properties of the channel are indicated to be thesame for control and data transmissions, the receiver could potentiallyuse the same or similar receive beamforming patterns to receive both thecontrol and the data.

As noted above, in beamformed systems (e.g., in mmWave frequencies), thecontrol region and data region might not use the same beam all the time.In some cases, the UE may only be reachable by a narrow beam used fordata transmissions. In such cases, the UE might not be aware of thecontrol region information to exploit for channel estimation for thedata region.

Aspects of the present disclosure, however, provide techniques where atransmitting entity may signal information regarding a relationshipbetween beams used for control and data transmissions. As used herein,control transmissions generally refer to control channel transmissions(e.g., PDCCH on the DL, PUCCH on the UL), as well as reference signals(e.g., CSI-RS or SS on the DL, SRS on the UL). The control and data maybe on the same subband, on different subbands of a component carrier, oron different component carriers. The data may include DMRS used todemodulate the data. The techniques may be used to signal informationthat may be used to process downlink transmissions, uplinktransmissions, or both. The uplink and downlink transmissions may be onthe same subband, on different subbands of a component carrier, or ondifferent component carriers.

For example, a base station (e.g., an eNB or UE acting as a base stationin a device to device or D2D scenario) may signal, to a UE, arelationship between the beams used for control transmissions (e.g., forPDCCH or DL RS, such as SS and/or CSI-RS) and data transmissions (fore.g. PDSCH or RS included with PDSCH, such as DMRS or PTRS). The UE maythen use this information for channel estimation in both downlinkcontrol and data regions. Similarly, a UE may signal, to a base station,a relationship between the beams used for control transmissions (e.g.,for PUCCH or SRS) and data transmissions (for e.g. PUSCH). The basestation may then use this information for channel estimation in bothuplink control and data regions. The relationship signaled by the UE maybe one out of a set of possible relationships, where the set may beconfigured by the base station. In another aspect, the base station maysignal this relationship to the UE instead of allowing the UE to chooseand signal its choice to the base station.

FIG. 9 illustrates example operations 900 that may be performed by atransmitting entity. For example, the operations 900 may be performed bya BS including one or more modules of the BSs 110 illustrated in FIG. 4or by a UE including one or more modules of the UEs 120 illustrated inFIG. 4.

The operations 900 begin, at 902, by signaling, to a receiving entity,information regarding a relationship between beams used for data andcontrol transmission to the receiving entity. The operations continue,at 904, by sending the data and control transmissions using the beams.

FIG. 10 illustrates example operations 1000 which may be performed by areceiving entity (e.g., a UE or base station), according to aspects ofthe present disclosure. Operations 1000 may be considered complementaryRX-side operations to the TX-side operations 900.

The operations 1000 begin, at 1002, with the receiving entity receivingsignaling, from a transmitting entity, information regarding arelationship between beams used for data and control transmissions tothe receiving entity. At 1004, the receiving entity processes the dataand control transmissions, based on the signaled information.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, an eNB may signal thebeam relationship between the beams used during the control transmission(e.g., for PUCCH) and data transmission (e.g., for PUSCH). In this case,the signaling of beam association information may be via radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling, PUCCH, or a media access control (MAC) controlelement (CE).

According to aspects of the present disclosure, an eNB may signal thebeam relationship between the beams used during the control transmission(e.g., for PDCCH) and data transmission (e.g., for PDSCH). In somecases, the eNB may signal a configuration of transmission time intervals(e.g., slots and/or subframes) and the type of beam associations betweendata and control channel transmissions in those intervals.

For example, this information may indicate certain intervals duringwhich the same beams are used for both control and data. Based on thisinformation, a UE may be able to use RS transmitted in the controlregion for channel estimation in the data region (or vice-versa). Inother intervals, the beams may be different, for example, with widerbeams used for control than data (as shown in FIG. 8). This may allowflexibility to an eNB (e.g., to transmit to multiple UEs during certainintervals).

The signaling of beam association information from an eNB may be viaradio resource control (RRC) signaling, PDCCH, broadcast signaling(e.g., MIB/SIB), or a MAC CE.

The signaled parameters may include various types of associationinformation, such as if both control and data are scheduled using thesame beam or phase continuity between control and data reference signals(RS). The signaled parameters may also include a measure of correlationbetween the beam shapes applied in control and the data region. In somecases, the signaled parameters may include an indication of quasicolocation between the beams used in Control and Data regions. Thissignaling may allow a receiving device to know whether it can assume QCL(or an assumed degree of quasi-colocation) of control and data toestimate parameters, such as Doppler Spread, delay spread, frequency,and timing, and utilize these for data channel estimation.Alternatively, or additionally, the signaling may also allow a receivingdevice to know whether it can assume if certain control and datacomponents are spatially QCL'd, meaning QCL with respect to spatialproperties, such as beam shape or angle of departure (AoD) from atransmitter. Spatial QCL information may, for example, allow a receiverto use same receive beamforming for 2 signals (data and control) thatare indicated as spatially QCL'd.

In any case, the receiving device may utilize this information regardingbeam association to enhance channel estimation, both for the data, aswell as the control region. In some cases, a UE may receive signalingthat the data (PDSCH) channel and the control (PDCCH) channel will betransmitted using the same beam. In this case, the UE may utilize sameRS to estimate parameters for both data and control regions.

For example, if the signaling indicates a same beam is used for data andcontrol transmissions (or that signaled parameters indicated data andcontrol transmissions are likely to experience same channel conditions,a UE may use DMRS in the control region to estimate the parameters likedelay spread, Doppler, frequency error, timing error, and the like. TheUE can utilize this information to enhance channel estimation for thedata region.

In some cases, the control and data transmission resources overlap in atleast some of the same frequency tones. As an example, control may be in10-20 Mhz, while data is in 10-30 Mhz or 15-25 Mhz. In this case, ifphase continuity is also signaled, then this information may be used bythe UE to further enhance channel estimation and also to estimatecertain fine imperfections, such as frequency error.

As noted above, by having some slots/subframes where the data and thecontrol will use the same beam and other slots/subframes where the dataand control use different beams, an eNB may have some flexibility.

For example, the eNB may apply wider beams for some slots to schedulemultiple UEs, while narrower beams (matched to data beam) in other slotshelp enhance channel estimation for the scheduled UE. In other words,the UE only scheduled on those slots and subframes may utilize thecontrol beam to estimate the channel parameters (e.g., delay spread,Doppler, frequency error, and the like). This information may then beused to enhance channel estimation for the data region.

As noted above, similar beam associations can be signaled (by EnodeB/orby UE) for the Uplink also for example if PUCCH (uplink control) andPUSCH (uplink data) share the same beam and the EnodeB can use the RSfrom PUCCH to estimate parameters for PUSCH. Assuming PUSCH and PUCCHare in different symbols and they both have RS, it may also bebeneficial to signal QCL between the RS and even phase continuity.Either the eNodeB can signal this to the UE or the UE can report sayingit will use the same beam for both PUCCH and PUSCH.

In some cases, the techniques described herein may be extended to deviceto device (D2D) scenarios, for example, where 2 UEs are communicating,with one potentially playing the role of a traditional BS. In suchcases, a UE serving as the BS (receiving on the uplink) may tell theother UE (transmitting on the UL) how to relate the UE's UL control anddata beams). In some cases, a UE may choose (provide the signaling) forUL. In other cases, a BS may choose for the UL.

In some cases, beam relationship information may be conveyed as a beamrelationship metric. The beam relationship metric may, for example,specify the relation between various control transmissions (e.g., PDCCHand/or CSIRS) and data transmissions (e.g, PDSCH and/or CSIRS) and maybe generated as a function of one or more parameters of the beams usedfor data and control transmissions. By separately providing theseindications, a device may effectively determine whether or not thecontrol and data (e.g., PDCCH and PDSCH) are QCLed.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples ofthe same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b,b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, theelement is recited using the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally,where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations mayhave corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components withsimilar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD),discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration maycomprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing systemmay be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system and the overall design constraints.The bus may link together various circuits including a processor,machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may beused to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processingsystem via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement thesignal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a userterminal 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display,mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus mayalso link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which arewell known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/orspecial-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can executesoftware. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implementthe described functionality for the processing system depending on theparticular application and the overall design constraints imposed on theoverall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or anycombination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. The processor may beresponsible for managing the bus and general processing, including theexecution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storagemedia. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processorsuch that the processor can read information from, and write informationto, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable mediamay include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data,and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions storedthereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed bythe processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition,the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integratedinto the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include,by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (ReadOnly Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, opticaldisks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or anycombination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in acomputer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by anapparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to performvarious functions. The software modules may include a transmissionmodule and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in asingle storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices.By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a harddrive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the softwaremodule, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache toincrease access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into ageneral register file for execution by the processor. When referring tothe functionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Forexample, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or otherremote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared(IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein. For example, instructions for perform the operations describedherein and illustrated in FIGS. 9-10.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication by atransmitting entity, comprising: signaling, to a receiving entity,information regarding a relationship between beams used for data andcontrol transmissions to the receiving entity; and sending the data andcontrol transmissions using the beams.